Metro Hotel on Pitt

A truly affordable hotel in Sydney, with stylish decor, great location and in-house snazzy brasserie?

If the notion of affordable starts from a walk-in rate of $155 (cheaper with last-minute website specials), then the Metro definitely is it.

Located at 300 Pitt St, at the city's southern end, the Metro is a skip from George St's cinema precinct, Darling Harbour and Chinatown.

The city buses are on its doorstep, and it's a short stroll to Central or Town Hall stations.

And as the hotel's Gary Long points out, if guests are arriving from Sydney airport via shuttle bus, it is among the first few stops on the round-city route.

Formerly the Pentura on Pitt, Metro Hotels (with properties in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia, plus a clutch of Metro Inns in suburban Sydney) took over the property in August 2003 and a gradual refurbishment has taken place, with most rooms already freshened-up with new soft furnishings, carpets and desk and bedside lighting.

Long says the 115-room hotel is popular with pollies and visiting Canberra diplomats who like its unobtrusiveness, there's no big see-and-be-seen lobby or inclination to dress up.

Room service can be ordered until 10pm from the licensed Paradiso cafe and bar menu (soups, oysters, grills and daily specials) and a computerised guest card gives access to self-service alcohol and soft drinks from vending machines situated in several locations over the hotel's seven storeys.

There is a 24-hour reception and a full stand of maps and touring brochures.

The 68 standard rooms are very small, more a hit-the-pillow kind of accommodation, but the superior queen and king spa rooms (the latter with Jacuzzi tub) are spacious. Some executive deluxe configurations have a separate but fairly cramped living area with a sofa bed that could easily convert to almost a cubby nook for children or mini den for teens complete with separate bathroom.

This is no glamour hideaway but a well-maintained and comfortable hotel with far more roominess and style than its outward appearance would suggest.

Sydney needs more such places where being on a budget need not mean no space to budge.